Important Gripper Training Information for Hardcore Trainees
Part of the allure of Grippers is without a doubt the Certifications that exist for closing them. After all, it’s cool to see your name “up in lights” and when you can get your name up on a pretty exclusive list, like the IronMind Captains of Crush list, it’s something you can really be proud of. This list is what started it all as far as Gripper certifications.
The Captains of Crush list is broken up into three segments. There is a list for closing the number 3, number 3.5 and number 4 grippers. In order to certify you must contact IronMind by telephone or email and request a meeting with one of their witnesses. They will assign you a witness and send them a Gripper for you to close. You will then have to meet the witness and perform your close under IronMind certification rules.
In order to get credit for a legal close, you can set it in your hand, using the off hand to partially close it in order to get the fingers on comfortably. After pre-positioning the gripper, a credit card (also supplied by IronMind) must be passed the narrow way between the ends of the handles to show that it has not been set too deeply and then you can go for the close. Touch the handles together with a legal set and you are a certified Captain of Crush.
There are currently about 300 people certified for closing the number 3 Gripper, but after that, the numbers really drop off. Only 5 people have shut the 3.5 and #4, each. These two groups are EXCLUSIVE!
That is just one list that is maintained for Gripper Closing. There are actually many lists that are kept, primarily on internet websites for Gripper Certifications.
The next most famous Gripper Certification is the Mash Monster Gripper Certification at the Gripboard. These Grippers are all produced by Warrne Tetting and range from the difficulty of a lighter #3 Gripper all the way up to light number 4′s. What is great about them is that they are very gradual steps. Also, as one the top level Mash Monster gripper gets closed by a few athletes, another Mash Monster gripper is designed to be slightly harder. It really is an awesome process.
The bottom line is Gripper training is fun. For a minimal investment of about $100, you can get yourself 5 grippers and enjoy hours and hours of training until you can literally grind the handles to dust.
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